Maple
by Paineverlasting
Summary: FIRST STORY! Ok, my view on what would happen if a child suddenly had to live with Reid. From her POV as it's very hard to get into Reid's head, and I like her. Rated T for language and because all CM fans should be this age anyway. All char.s included.
1. Chapter 1

AN: ok, so this is my first story. I'm hoping it's good, but as I don't know myself if it is any good (I just write them and love them) I have to ask that you guys tell me. however, even if you think it's crap, I'll take it under advisement. Flames are welcomed as long as you know that I wont take a single word in them to heart. that being said, ANYTHING that anyone has to say that will make this story better is welcomed.

I hope you enjoy my story!! Paineverlasting. :)

She wasn't made that her mom was in a hospital, or that her dad was dead. What she was really mad about was that they had tried to take her dog away from her on top of everything else. She could live with just about everything that had happened, but when they tried to take away the animal that had saved her life, she made them agree to at least have Reid make the decision on weather of not she could keep her.

They meet with him at his apartment, and she was glad to see that he didn't seem against her bringing Panda, or that Panda herself wasn't growling at him. She had her hand in her head though. She was glad when Mrs. Denver left them. Spencer could see this, and when he gave her a curious look, she shrugged. "Not much of a dog person." Panda barked, and he jumped a little.

She held onto the leash tighter. He just sighed. "I won't make you get rid of her, Maple. I know how much you love that dog. Your Dad made sure to tell me everything about you two."

She relaxed her hold, and Panda moved forward to sniff him. Then she sat down and tipped her head.

He looked at Maple. "She wants you to scratch her ears. She usually doesn't act like this around adults though. It's… kinda weird."

He did what he was supposed to though and rubbed her ears. Then they all went inside together, and Panda went to the small kitchen and laid down on the tile. Spencer took her to the stools that her had next to the counter. "Ok, so here's what's going to go on now. Everything from your house is going to be brought down here, than put in storage until I get a bigger place. Don't worry, I am. Also, we'll have to keep Panda there quiet until we get out of here. Pets aren't allowed in this building. Until than though, you can take my bed until-"

Maple held up her hands. "Wait a minute, there's no way you're going to sleep on the couch. It's too short for you."

Spencer looked down at her, and you could see everything going threw his head. "You do know I am the adult here, right?"

She shrugged. "I know. But I'm used to taking care of myself anyway. Besides, I fall asleep on the couch at home all the time."

He knew that she wasn't lying either. It just upset him a little that life wasn't to different for her.

Or that she wasn't to different from himself. "Fine. Also, we need to get you signed up for school. I know that you skipped two grades."

She shrugged. "I like keeping up. Dad got me books whenever I wanted them from this home schooling store. I learn faster on my own anyway. Do you have anything to drink?"

"Just water and coffee. Sorry. I don't drink much of anything else."

She shrugged. "That's ok. I don't mind drinking water."

As she got something to drink for herself, she got a dog bowl out of her bag and filled it up for Panda.

She scratched her head when she put it down, and Panda yawned.

It was quiet for a while before Spencer thought of something to ask. "So, do you like being in the seventh grade?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. It's kinda weird. Everyone is starting puberty, and some of the girls can be jerks. But then again, there are a lot of kids who are pretty cool about it. There's even a group who let me sit with them all the time so I'm not alone. I think they only really liked me though because I corrected our Science teacher."

He smiled. "You know, by the time I was your age I was in high school."

"Bet that sucked." Spencer noted that she looked a little uncomfortable.

"They'll test you to see if you're still able to be ahead. Maybe you'll be with kids your own age here."

She didn't look very hopeful. "Can I sign up for soccer here?"

"Sure. I'm thinking we can find a team for you. Maybe JJ would know of one…"

She nodded and looked at her feet. "So… so where's Mom?"

He studied her. "She's still in the hospital in Florida."

"Will they make her better? Dad… dad never wanted to… to talk about it."

He kept quiet for a minute, wondering to tell the truth or lie. He went somewhere in the middle.

"I don't know Maple. I'm sorry."

"It's ok. I… I'll be right back."

Panda got up as she started to leave. Spencer grabbed her arm as she started to run around. "Let go!!"

He brought her closed as the tiers began falling. "Maple, it's ok."

"No it's not!!"

"It's no one's fault."

"Let go!!

"It's not your fault, it's not your Dad's fault-"

"Shut up!!"

"And it's not your mom's fault."

She hit him. She hit his chest, his arm, and as she aimed a punch at his nose, Panda barked.

It made her jumped, and Panda wined and waged her tail. Maple just started crying harder. He brought her around to the side that wasn't sore and let her cry on him as he talked. "It's not any one's fault. She's sick, and there's nothing that anyone can do about that. It's wasn't your fault when she tried to hurt you, when she tried to hurt herself, or when she tried to hurt your dad. It wasn't any one's fault. I know you know that."

It seemed like forever before she started to calm down, and when her cries started to turn to hiccups, she whispered "I'm being a baby."

He laughed. "No you're not. Your being a 10-year-old kid who just found out that she couldn't do everything."

"I'm almost 11 though."

"Still counts."

When she was done, she sat on the stool and played with the water ring that her cup maid.

They sat for a while before she looked around. "You really like books hu?"

"Don't you?"

"I like learning… but I'm a big soccer fan. I've got all kind of stuff from my favorite team."

And suddenly he saw a way to distract her, and he took it.

After they went out to eat, Reid started to look around harder for a new building. It wasn't long before he found out that there really wasn't much that fit them. Just the two of them was one story, but having Panda just complicated things. Than there where places that didn't even seem to want any kids in their building. He was going to have to ask for help.

He looked at her while she ate her cheese burger."How would you like to meet my team tomorrow?"

"You mean the rest of the BAU?"

"How did you know that?"

"Dad… and Mom when she had the energy."

"Oh. Well than you must know about all we do then."

She seemed interested. "Not really. I know you try to go into the bad guys head, but that's about it."

"Well, first off, we call him the UnSub…"

And he watched as she sucked everything in. It was actually kind of amazing. He watched her hang on every word.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Ok, first off, thank you SO MUCH for the Reviews. It was great to be able to read them. I hope to get more for this chapter!!

I do have to apologize though. I forgot to change what grade Maple was in in my final edit, but I'll fix it soon. Please R&R!! It's great to know what your thinking!!

The next day, he made plans with the team to meet for lunch. They needed him to look over a few files anyway. He was kind of nervous and excited at the same time. No one else had really brought their kids in to get to know everyone. Then again, not everyone could say that they really needed help. Hotch had had his wife, and JJ had Will, but he had no idea what he would do when he had to go out of town. Maybe he could find out if they knew anyone…

As they brought the pizzas in, Reid watched as Maple took everything in. It was nice to see that the government building could catch someone eye. It was kind of funny to watch her take Panda's dog tag off and ask if his chip would mean that Panda couldn't get threw. They brought her around and did it by hand, than they used a scanner to make sure that it really was an information chip.

He watched her relax when they said she could go threw. Panda stayed close to her, and he wondered what would have happened if she couldn't have brought her.

The look on her face was one of amazement as she watched everything being x-rayed. It was nice to see someone whose eyes could still get wide at something so simple. Maybe it would be nice to have someone around who had childlike wonder. Hell, helped when she was still a kid. He found himself wondering how much crap Morgan was going to give him for this.

One of the agents who were watching the x-ray seemed to notice it too. He walked up next to Reid, where he could still see the screen. "I'm an Uncle myself. I see that look every time they look at my badge."

Once all their stuff was threw, she turned around. "Can I watch another one?"

"I don't have any problems with it kiddo." The agent said.

"I think you should ask the people next in line if it's alright." Reid said.

She looked at the woman, who smiled and nodded. "Go ahead."

All eyes were on her as she watched the woman's box go threw the machine, and a small chuckle could be heard from the woman. You could see Maple studying it. "I'd say you have a future x-ray technician on your hands."

Maple picked up the things that she was caring in, and Reid got his in a better position. She looked up at the two men. "So how does it work? How does it keep from frying laptops and things like that? Why didn't Panda's tag get stuck in there?"

The agent shrugged, but Reid smiled. "Common, we'll walk and talk."

He told her everything he knew about it as they went up through the elevator.

He wasn't done when they got to the bull-pen either. The other let him talk and drowned him out as they watched her. It was the first time in history that anyone had let Reid finish. It was kind of funny to see someone who seemed so excited to learn something new. It didn't take too long for him to get done either. Apparently he was only telling her the jest of it, which for normal people was still long, but he knew a site that she would like.

Garcia came up. "Oh good, you got some of my pizza too. Thanks."

"No problem." Reid stated. He looked over at Maple, who had her mouth hanging open. Besides herself, Garcia was the most brightly dressed person in the room. You could see the smile creep on Reid's face, and when everyone else saw that, they knew that this would be good.

"So, Reid, care to introduce the kid?" Morgan asked.

Maple looked over her shoulder at Morgan, than at Reid. She wasn't sure if she should say anything. Reid looked at her, and then made a motion for her to talk while he grabbed a pizza for himself.

"I'm Maple Redwolf, and this is my dog Panda. She's half pit-bull and half English Mastiffs. She's the best dog ever, so I don't want to hear how awful pits are, 'cause even her mom was a great dog." She said it like it was something that could be argued with.

Morgan smiled wide and gave Reid an 'I'm SO on you about this later' look. Reid sighed, but it was Rossi who said "Don't worry, we won't."

Reid gave her some of the pizza she chose and wondered how many times she had given that speech on behalf of her dog.

Hotch seemed to think that it would be a good time to change the topic. "I'm SS- I'm Aaron Hotchner."

She took the hand he offered. "Can I call you Aaron or do I have to call you Mr. Hotchner?"

JJ, Emily, and Garcia snicker and Reid bit his lip. Morgan just ate more pizza. Hotch pretended not to notice. "I don't mind. Most everyone here calls me Hotch though."

She thought about it. "I like Aaron better."

He nodded and ate his pizza, unwilling to go back to his office from fear that he might miss something. Rossi was next. "I'm David Rossi. You can call me either David or Rossi."

No one else could help but notice that he was trying to keep her away from 'Mr'. "David than. Rossi's a good name too, but… I don't know, I like it. Doesn't anyone call you Dave though?"

Everyone seemed perplexed at the thought of him being called something as simple as Dave. "Nah, I like David better." He replied.

"I'm Emily Prentise. Nice to meet you Maple."

"How do you feel about Em?"

"I like it." She shrugged.

"Good. So do I." She smiled. Emily smiled back.

"Derek Morgan. Everyone calls me Morgan though."

"The last Morgan I meet was a girl. Sure you don't like Derek better?"

"Well, I do, but-"Panda got up and looked at his pizza. Maple sighed and brought out a bowl filled with meat and gravy that she knew she would need when Spencer had told her they were getting pizza. She took the lid off and then set it down. Everyone watched as the dog in hailed it without spilling a drop. JJ was the first to bounce back. "I'm Jeniffer Jerarou, but everyone calls me JJ."

"Aren't you the one that Spencer said might know a soccer team around here?"

JJ looked Reid with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you might have some old friends or something." Reid replied to the look. "Oh" was all she finally said.

Maple looked at Garcia. "Penelope Garcia, computer tech."

"How do you like the sound off Pen?" Maple asked.

"I like it."

"Ok, so I have to ask, PC or Mac?"

"I made my own."

Maple smiled. "Even better."

"What, no catchy nickname for you?" Morgan asked.

"My team would call me 'Lobo' because my name was 'Roholobo' when I translated it, and since I was a good goalie, one of them said that I protected the goal like a wolf with her cubs, so I got stuck with Lobo in soccer. Some people tried to call me Red, but that was more Dads' nickname."

"What about your middle name?" Pen asked. Maple blushed a little. "It's Athena. Mom said that Dad chose Maple because they were strong trees and his favorite, and she chose Athena because she's that goddess of wisdom and battle."

Hotch got it first. "Your first name is something strong, your middle name is the Greek goddess for wisdom and battle and your last is Redwolf, which your friends also got protector from."

Reid smiled. "I thought it was good when she was born."

Maple smiled too. "One of my friends said I was doomed to work in a field where you're constantly saving lives. Than when she found out my Dad was FBI…"

"She believed in it all the more." Rossi finished.

Maple's blush went a little darker, if it were possible. "Yeah. I told her it was just as likely that I would become a librarian if she wanted to look at name meanings."

"But you're not sure if you believe that." Emily stated. It wasn't a question.

Maple decided that it didn't deserve a response, and ate her pizza. Everyone seemed to catch the hint. Rossi was the first to think of something. "So, do you speak Spanish?"

"Si senor. I've been able to for a while now."

Reid looked at her. "I didn't know that."

Maple smiled. "Mom and Dad didn't know. I helped some of the kids on my team improve their English, and they helped me improve my Spanish. It was win win."

Reid thought about it for a second. "Don't you know Greek and Italian too?"

Maple shrugged. "Sure. Mom taught me. And I talk with my cousins on the net that live there. You know, with the video and mic thing. I've got my accents down too."

Everyone looked a little shocked. She looked at them. "What?"

"Your how old and you know three languages?" Rossi asked.

"I'm 10…" she was staring pointedly at Panda.

Reid looked excited and confused at the same time. "How many other languages do you know Maple?"

"Only sign language." She said shyly.

"How did you learn that?" Hotch asked.

"I meet a kid online who was willing to teach me if I helped her with her Italian. I mean, come on, it's not like it's a bad thing to know so many languages. It's supposed to be good."

"Your right, it is. I know how to speak Arabic myself, along with some Roman and Italian too. I learned when I was a child also." Emily said.

Maple looked interested. "Can you teach me? I would love to learn. Is it true that with Arabic you read from right to left?"

"Yes, it is true. And I would love to teach you."

"Thanks Em."

When the two of them smiled, it was JJ who knew that having her around would be good for everyone.

Reid looked at Morgan. "You know of any buildings close by that have two or three rooms and allow pets? I'm kind of coming up empty."

"Well, I know of a house that's not to fare off that you could buy."

Reid looked a little shocked. "A house? I dunno… I mean, we're not really around often enough. A house can be a lot of work."

Morgan smiled. "Not to worry. The place that I'm thinking off has got everything fixed up already. It's in a nice neighborhood and close to a school. I just got done with it. If you want I can show it to you tomorrow."

"All right. I'll bite."

Emily looked up. "Can I come? I wouldn't mind seeing your handiwork."

"Sure, why not?"

Maple looked around. "You guys have a soda machine here? I could use a drink."

Garcia got up. "Come on sugar. I'll take you."

"Cool." Panda got up when she did, and the three of them left.

"It's a mini Reid." Morgan teased.

Reid rolled his eyes and scoffed. JJ was curios. "What grade is she in?"

"Seventh. Why?"

"I don't really think that's ahead enough. You might want her to do the placement exams thing before putting her back in school. To know that many languages and not be super smart is mind blowing for me."

"So what happened? Why is she living her with you?" Morgan asked.

"Her Mom is Manic depressive and only got worse after… well, after her husband died. They're not sure who did it. His name was on a few hit lists after he helped stopped a home grown terrorist group. And he helped the DEA more than a few times. All I'm really worried about at this time is trying to figure out what to do while we're gone."

"Well, I'm sure that Will would be happy to help. I'll ask him when I get home."

"Thanks JJ."

"How do you know her family?" Rossi asked.

Reid shrugged. "Her dad and I meet at the FBI academy. I went to the wedding, and I came to visit a month after Maple was born. They were writing up their wills and wanted to know if I would be willing to be Maple's next guardian after her parents. Well, Maple's grandparents are dead, and John would never have let his parents keep her for long. 2 weeks of every summer was enough for him. Maple actually got Panda as a present from them, with her Dad's permission. They don't talk a lot any other time though."

"What's up with her and the dog?" Hotch asked.

Before Reid could answer, Maple came in. "Not long after I got said dog, I was taking her out for a walk, and this guy tried to take me. She wasn't full grown yet, but still pretty big. Anyway, she jumped up and bit the guy on the arm. When he started to hit her, I kicked as high up as I could. I was wearing my cleats, so my shoes where extra hard to. Panda and I ran. They actually got the guy at the hospital. I wasn't the first one either. She and I helped catch a bad guy."

"Wow." Was the universal reply.

Maple brought six bottles of soda up. "What'cha got there?" Morgan asked.

She smiled wide. "They had Hawaiian Punch and Sprite. Trust me, it's good."

"Garcia, did you buy all this?" Reid asked.

"No, she did. As soon as she saw it she brought her wallet out and just started buying it."

"And I've got money to spare. You have the cups?"

Garcia handed them over and she laid them out. "This is the Florida version of a non alcoholic party drink. It's the best, trust me." She started pouring half and half of each drink into each cup. "My Dad said it was alright, but he also ended up drinking half of my drink. It's kinda sweet, but still, it's good."

When she was done she grabbed her cup and took a test sip. JJ and Garcia took a sip each, looked at it, and then took another. JJ smiled. "It is good."

"I agree completely."

Spencer, Emily and Derek braved it next. Than Hotch and Rossi.

Pen giggled. "I love this. Girl, you've got me hooked on a strange Florida drink."

Morgan nodded. "I've got to admit, this isn't bad."

"It's definitely different." Rossi said.

"Well, so is Reid and I, but you haven't thrown us out of the building yet." Maple said jokingly.

"You know the Italian saying for smart ass?" Rossi joked.

"Yes, it's-"

Reid stopped her. "So how do you like the place?"

"I like it. Library is better though. Do you think there's a soccer field close by?"

"Your quiet the soccer fan huh?" JJ said.

"Sure. It's a worldwide sport. Everyone knows it. And I get to tell the Scotts that one day the American girl's team will win the Olympic soccer games. I'm not actually sure if they WILL win, but one can hope. Plus, they take their 'football' very seriously. They're fun to argue with." She said football with the Scottish accent that she heard over the net.

Maple looked at Reid. "So did you get to talk to them about where I'm staying for when you're at work while we were gone?"

"How did you know?"

Maple promptly turned to Garcia. "Now or later, Pen?"

Garcia stood shocked. "You guys really did talk about her behind her back, and then you admitted about it?!"

Reid looked confused. "Was I supposed to not to?"

Hotch smiled. "That is the idea Reid."

Garcia sighed. "I bet money that you lot wouldn't. I'm so disappointed."

Maple stood in front of Reid. "So?"

"So what?"

"So what's the plan?"

"You might be staying with Will, JJ's…?" He looked at her, realizing that he had no clue what they called each other.

"Will's my Fiancé." JJ said. "You'd be staying with him and my son Henry."

Garcia scoffed. "And let him keep her all to himself? Not a chance. I'd be very happy to have her here with me too."

"Garcia, children tecnacley aren't allowed here." Hotch said.

Everyone looked at him as Strause went thru their head.

Maple smiled. "I've seen her office. You really think that there wouldn't be an easier place to hide in? Trust me; it would be one of the easiest things in the world. I did it at Dad's work if I when I couldn't go home."

"It's settled than. Maple can stay with me on odd days, and if Will is willing, she can stay with him on even." Garcia stated.

Maple smiled. "Sounds good to me. So how olds your son?"

"6 months."

"No one there is allergic to dogs, right?"

JJ smiled a little. "As far as I know. How is she with babies?"

Maple looked down at Panda. "Quieter. She never barks win someone's sleeping, or when it's a baby. She doesn't jump on anyone either, unless it's me, right Panda?"

Panda's tail began to wage as she looked at Maple.

"Bet you don't like it when you two are apart." Emily said.

"I like having her around. I call the libraries before I go there to see if they allow dogs in. Most only let service dogs in, but we get around that." Maple smiled a little wickedly.

"How?" Morgan asked.

On kew, she started explaining it all with sing language.

"That's a little scary, you know that right? Don't you feel bad for lying?"

Maple shrugged. "She's kinda like my guard dog. And I couldn't leave her with Mom, she…"

The rest went unspoken as she began studying her hands. She had learned long ago to try not to say too much about her mom, and it wasn't about to end now.

She finished off her drink. "Don't worry if you don't like it. I've had plenty of kids tell me it was crap. Shouldn't we be going soon Spencer?"

Reid looked at the clock on the wall. "Yeah, just let me look over the files for a second, and then we'll leave."

"Come on," JJ said, "I left them in my office."

They watched them leave, and then everyone focused back on Maple.

"Ok, so what's it like living with Reid?" Emily asked.

"There are books everywhere as you could have probably guessed… he's got a lot of pictures of you guys, and a bunch from when his mom was little, but not too many with him as a kid. His apartment seems a little small for him, but I guess that he spends most of his time here anyway. He's got a shelf filled with nothing but coffee, another with sugar, and I don't think he knows how to cook."

She watched as they gathered this new information in.

"What about movies?" Morgan asked.

"Would you believe he's got every movie that is based on a novel by Stephen King? Then he has the star-trek stuff that I've come to expect from the older geeks, and then he's got a few super hero movies, some FBI thrillers like Red Dragon… and he has every bugs bunny cartoon ever." She smiled at the last part. "He says that he puts throws them on for noise, but I think he kinda like them. Who doesn't?"

Hotch surprised everyone by asking a question. "Does he collect anything?"

She nodded. "Books, movies, and chips."

"Chips?"

"Sure. He's got one from every casino. He says that it's his retirement fund. He's got, like, 500,000 in this frame, and then he said he had more in the bank." Maple waved it off like it was no big deal. Everyone just stared at her, opened mouth.

Nothing was said until after he left, and it was said by Morgan. "I'm going on Reid's next trip to Lost Vegas."


	3. Chapter 3

An: Wow, it's really cool how many people have added this story to their favorites and alert. Very cool. :)

Now I have something to ask of you; please Review! I love everyone's thoughts. I also love ideas. I wouldn't mind hearing about them so that I might find something new to put in this story (which feels like it's coming out _slowly_).

Hell, at this point, I wouldn't mind hearing about reasons why you think it's crap.

Emily and Morgan stood at the front door, waiting for Maple and Spencer. They were surprised to see Reid driving an old Volvo, but not so surprised to see Panda jump out.

Reid looked up at it. "It looks good."

It did. It had an old look, yet it didn't feel old. It was a light Tan house with a light gray roof to reflect the sun a little and make the house cooler. He also couldn't help but notice the hug tree that was in the backyard, and the good sized one that was in front. Maple walked up to the one in front, having already waved the two on the driveway, and seemed to be deciding something.

Reid walked up to Morgan, hands in pockets. "I looks good man."

"I didn't do much work out here. Gave it a new paint job and fixed the roof a little, but that was only because no one took care of it. Should last another 10 years if you have someone go up and take a look at it every now-and-then."

Reid nodded, and Emily spoke up. "Can we go in?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Maple, come and see the inside!" Emily called.

"Ok Em! I'm coming." She called back, and Panda ran through the door as Morgan was opening it. Maple stayed with them as they looked around. Her eyes went wide at the kitchen. "Look Spencer, we can make a whole bunch of cookies here!! Look, there's even a place to hang up the pots and stuff. That's cool. Man, there are a lot of cabinets. Hey, you're not going to put anything on the top shelf, are you?"

"Maple, I don't even know if I'm buying it." Reid said, feeling like he was being dragged into something.

Maple rolled her eyes. "Well then let's see more."

They looked at all the rooms. Both Maple and Spencer loved the fireplace and were glad to hear that it worked. There was even room enough that they could have their own library. It was the attic that Maple claimed as her own though. It was connected to the air conditioning and she knew that she would never get tall enough to hit her head on the ceiling, which had both Morgan and Reid twisting their heads a little, and best of all, Panda could get up with ease. It felt kind of like a secret hideaway, and she loved it.

She turned to Reid, who smiled down at her. "You like it?"

"If we get this house, I want this to be my room." She stated.

Reid laughed. "Well, I like this place to."

He and Morgan left, and she went over to the window to see the view. If she wanted, she could have a telescope pointed right above the tree. She turned to Emily. "Do you think he'll get it?"

"Yeah, I think he will. He and Morgan are probably talking about the price and ways to take care of the place. So… can I ask you something?"

"Sure Em." Maple said, not paying much attention.

"How are you doing? I know that it hasn't been long since… since your dad's funeral. How are you feeling?" Emily asked.

Maple shrugged. "I don't know… I called him the other day. Is that bad?" She didn't look at her.

"No, it's not bad. Sometimes it takes a while for it to sink in that someone is gone." Emily said, trying to be kind.

Maple nodded, and looked from the window to the tree. "Do you think I could make a ladder from her to that tree?"

Emily's eyebrows shot up a little. "What?"

"Do you think I could put something on this window that could take me from here to the tree? Well, ok, so I know that I _could_ but do you think that Reid would go for it?" Maple asked, thinking deep.

"Why would you want to?"

"I think I would be cool. I could climb from here to the tree and then go up to look at the stars and stuff."

"What about Panda?" So fare she hadn't seen the pair apart.

"Well, I can't go everywhere with her. I was thinking that I needed to find a way to put a doggie door in though. She likes to go out a lot. I was thinking that I could make a ladder on the tree too so that I could go down and play with her if I wanted. Bypass the other floors faster, you know? I could make a platform on the tree, maybe a roof and hang out there. I wonder if I could put Christmas lights up there…"

"You think a lot." Emily stated, laughing.

"Yeah, I know. Hey, maybe I could make a slide for Panda and I so we could go down to the backyard really fast. Think Spencer would like one too?" she was asking it so honestly, Emily wasn't sure if she should find it funny, worry, or try and help her out and make Reid let her do everything she wanted to do.

She was saved by Morgan and Reid, who said that they were done.

Reid seemed really happy by buy. "I like this. I didn't think I would, but I do."

"Want to know what thought really blows my mind? You're a father now."

"It is kind of weird, but… I don't know. It's… scary? I love the idea, yet it scares the crap out of me."

"I can get that."

Maple looked up at Emily, who seemed concerned. Maple just smiled and shrugged, and waved her down so she could talk to her. "I would be worried to. It's not like he has any practice, right?"

"So you're ok?"

"Of course. Hey Spencer!" she said louder.

He looked up at the stairs. "So, welcome to your new home!"

"Cool, you bought it. So, which room is going to be the library?"

"I was thinking that we could get to that later. Right now everything just needs to be moved here." Spencer stated.

"Going to call some movers or you want to do everything yourself?"

He shook his head and took out his phone and much to the surprise of Emily and Derek found it funny to hear him asking Garcia for a favor.

Maple and Panda went out to the backyard, and she started measuring the tree with her eyes to figure out what and how much she needed.

Morgan really had done a good job.


	4. Chapter 4

Reid had given his landlord three days notice, and meet up with the movers the next day. He watched as everything was packed into boxes, making sure that nothing was broken or stolen, or simply left behind. He was glad to see that they knew what they were doing though, as they did one room at a time, getting everything packed fairly quickly.

Maple could tell that at first, they had been somewhat surprised that they were being asked to move an apartment. Once they saw all the books it began to make more since. The amount of books on the shelves was enough to overwhelm anyone, but if you counted the books he had on his desk and stacked in the corners, it began to make even more since.

Maple had enjoyed watching them. Everyone worked well together; they paid attention to each other and what everyone was doing. She liked to think that they all like each other. Maple helped put books in boxes after watching them do it. One of them seemed slightly impressed that she could do it as they did, and pretty soon the two of them were in a silent race to see who could do the most first.

The other two watched and simply waited for them to clear off a bookcase before starting to take it apart. Then one of them began to take it down while the other began to move the last few books off of another one. They weren't terribly cheap bookcases either. Some money had been spent in them.

Maple and the man ended up packing the books together in record time, and despite the man's head start, they ended up in a semi tie. Neither could really tell for sure as the others had started to take boxes down.

Before they put anything more in the trunk though, they got the bed, couch, and other furniture out.

All in all, it really only took them a couple of hours. After that, Reid did a walk around to make sure that everything was out, and then lead the way to the house. He had them put the furniture where it was supposed to go, but decided to put everything else away on their own. Not long after they left, another truck came up and began putting everything Maple had inherited into the house.

And besides her mother's clothes and a few books, she had gotten everything.

Maple found herself wondering if she could convince Reid to get ride of his couch in favor for her families couch. It was a little newer, and dog friendly.

Maple had asked Reid if it would be alright if she could go threw everything, and until she did if they could put all of the boxes into one of the rooms. He had agreed to it, thinking that it might help her to come to terms with everything.

While he began to put his own things away, Maple began going through the boxes. Nothing was really marked. She found her great-grandmother's china, and put it to the side. She did find a box filled with her father's clothes. She went through it all. She decided that with the suits, Spencer could decide if there was anyone he knew who might like them. They were her dad's work and wedding clothes.

She was careful with his T-shirts though. There were some that he dad had gotten in his travels, some that had his football team on them…

And then she found the one she had gotten for him when she was 6, the one he called his lucky shirt, the one that was in his go bag. She found herself wondering how it ended up there until she found the bag in the next box, empty.

It took her a minute to realize that she was crying into the stupid bag and shirt. Reid came in as soon as he had heard her, and sat down next to her and put his arm around her. He was glad to see that she was dealing with one thing at a time. First her mom being put in a hospital and now her dad's death.

Reid found himself crying a little too as he held the child. His friend was gone, one that he trusted. This little girl, whom he had watched grow up in pictures and in her parents' stories, and who had began writing to him a little at the age of three when she had found out how, had lost the two people she trusted most.

Maple had mixed feelings about him being there. On one hand, she would have rather cry by herself, and on the other, it was nice that she wasn't alone. Panda put her head in her lap as she cried.

It felt like forever before she calmed down.

Maple found herself bitterly counting off the grieving list, as she thought of it.

First denial, which had left her all too fast, then anger, which made itself known while she was thinking about her mom, now what, depression? Or maybe she was still in the anger stage.

"Are you ok now?" Reid asked her quietly.

"I was crying over his lucky shirt." She said, not knowing how she sounded.

"John had a lucky shirt?"

"I got it for him. He had it in his go bag because it gave him luck. He said that he won a hundred dollars in a poker game while he had it on. He said that if it wasn't luck, he didn't know what was."

Reid gave a little chuckle. "Sounds like him. But you didn't answer my question; are you alright now?"

She didn't answer him for a while, until she finally shrugged. "I really don't know."

He squeezed her a little. "That's fine. You don't have to know."

"Can we get some hot chocolate?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Well, we have to go to the store anyway. What do you want for dinner tonight? TV dinners?"

"How about I make something?"

"You're not cooking."

"I'm not eating TV dinners. My ancestors will come out of their graves and haunt me."

"I don't have anything for you to really cook with." Reid said, trying to find a way out of trying to eat Maple's food. He didn't know if he really wanted to try an 11 year olds cooking.

Maple got up though and found a box marked 'kitchen', opened it, and pulled out pots and pans.

Reid sighed, defeated.

AN: Ok, sorry this is so short, but If I had made it longer it would have been to the point of being to long, and this seemed like a good break point.

So, next chapter will be up ASAP, so in the meantime, press that button!!!


	5. Chapter 5

She made a list of everything she needed, and Reid grabbed his cloth bags before they left.

They made their way threw the store, things being piled high in the basket. Fruit and frozen veggies were filled in, and Maple found no problem in putting the egg plant back as soon as he put it in. She had laugh when Panda had sat in front of the steak counter, looking into it like she would love to be able to jump in.

Maple made sure that they got salad, dressing, sauce, noodles, olive oil, and some frozen chicken patties.

Reid almost laughed after they had checked out, went back home and put everything away. She put water onto boil, turned the oven on, put the salad into two bowls and then put the sauce into a pan to slowly heat up.

After the water started boiling, she put the noodles in, stirred, and then put the chicken patties into the now done heating oven.

Before the noodles were fully done she put some of the oil in to help with the sticking, stirred one last time and drained them.

He helped her put everything on their plates, watched as she put a patty into Panda's bowl, put sauce over everything, then they put everything she hadn't used away, and they ate at the counter.

"I would have to say you've done this before." Reid said, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"I like cooking. All my best things come from jars though." She admitted.

"Nothing's burned, everything taste good, and the kitchen isn't a mess. You did awesome Maple. What else can you do?" he sounded like she was wonder woman or something.

She rolled her eyes. "I can fly."

"I'm serious. I've found out a lot about you. What else have you been keeping secret from me?"

She smiled wide. "Don't you want to be surprised?"

He opened and closed his mouth before shoveling more food in. "This is good you know."

"It's simple. Mom taught me how to make it. She says that the best things in life are sometimes the simplest things."

"So what else do you know?"

"You can't sneak a question up on me. It doesn't work."

"Oh come on." Reid said, sounding a bit like a kid, but a smile was on his face, a real on, and Maple shook her head.

"I'm almost a gray-belt." She finally said.

"Yeah, your dad told me about that. How many test do you have left to get it?"

"Three." Maple said, smiling proudly.

"Wow. Come on, what else? I know that there's something." Reid said, pressing on.

"…I don't know. I learned how to train dogs from a book, and helped a neighbor out with her new dog that she got from the pound. I've read everything on bipolar disorder."

"You know, it's not called that anymore." Reid stated, letting the words flow.

"Yeah, but like shell shook, it sounds better the new term." Maple said, a little bitterly. She stabbed at her salad.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Not like you changed the name anyway. Not like it matters what it's called, it never changes."

"I did the same thing when I was a kid. I wanted to try and find out a way to make my mom better."

"I just wanted to find a way to make mom happier more often. I was going to find a cure on a later date." She said with a small smile.

"Are you still going to look for one?" Reid asked her, being somewhat serious.

"I'm still looking for a way to make her happier. I keep thinking that it has to be something simple, like eating something every day, something that no one would think of. I even tried new things on her, like more fish and even an eggplant once, but it didn't work out well."

After a long silence, Reid looked down at her. "You want to talk about something else?"

"Can I paint pictures on my walls?" Maple asked, happy to comply.

"What do you want to paint?"

"I don't know- everything. I'm not very good at it, but I think it would be fun."

"As long as you don't get paint on the floor." Reid said, not really caring if what she painted was any good. He thought he had to put SOME rule in though.

"Deal." Maple said, taking Reid hand and shaking it before he had a chance to change his mind.

They chatted on and off while they ate, each taking turns telling some story or another. Then they went off to the two bathrooms, showered, and then the two fell asleep watching Bugs Bunny.

Reid took Maple down to the school the next day to be tested. At first, it was a simple placement test. With as long as she was taking, Reid began to think that maybe she might just get to be with kids closer to her own age.

It didn't seem meant to be though as a few hours later the school called again to see if he wouldn't mind getting Maple's IQ tested, and as he could see she wasn't slow in anyway, he asked how high she scored.

"Well… high enough. She shouldn't even be in Middle school. With what we get from these test scores, that's what grade we will put her in, but it might be a great help to know her IQ so that we can decide further from there."

"How long will the test take?" Reid asked, deciding to go from there.

"A couple of hours, but we can do it sometime tomorrow if you want."

"Can you hold for a moment?"

"Sure."

Reid put the phone down and went to see Maple, who was sorting threw everything in her storage room. "Maple, can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me two things. What's up?" She asked, looking up at him. Panda was chasing her own tail, and she had been watching her.

"Would you like to take an IQ test today or tomorrow?" Reid asked, knowing that one day she would probably have to take one anyway.

"I'd rather do it today and get it over with." She said, shrugging.

He nodded and left, setting it up on the phone.

It was only two days before they got the results. Reid had had them emailed to him, as it was faster.

They opened the placement one first. Maple's eyes went wide. "9th grade?! Holy cow…"

"So you'll be 15 when you graduate. That won't be so bad. You'll get out of it faster." Reid pointed out.

"I know, I just didn't think that I would be with a bunch of teenagers. I already feel small." Maple said, trying to make herself feel not so uneasy about it.

"Do you want to do it?" Reid asked, thinking maybe he could pull some strings.

"Are you kidding? I can get a scholarship with this. Of course I want to do it." Maple said, acting like he might be little nuts. "Besides, it might be fun. So how high do they think my IQ is?"

He opened it and speed read it, Maple waiting for him to tell her.

"136. That means that you should be around the same as me by the time you finish collage."

"Wow… wow… is that a good thing?" She asked, looking him in the eye. She knew that sometime he wished that he hadn't been young when he was in high school. She had seen how his high school things were crammed into some box.

"Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. For me, it is now because it works well with my job. And I like having a photographic memory sometimes because I can reread things while I'm traveling."

"But I don't have that. I can't even speed read like you. I mean, I remember a lot, sure, but I couldn't reread something in my head like that. I have to cram a little before every test."

"Is it because you're afraid you might not know it, or are you calling it up so that it would be there for your beck and call?"

"I just like making sure that I know it." She answered, shrugging.

"Well, it looks like your starting school next week. There are a couple of things you need anyway."

"You start work in a few days though." She pointed out.

"I know, but you can hang out at the building. I'm sure Garcia would like to see you."

"Alright, that sounds cool. Listen, I'm going back into the storage room. What's for dinner?"

"I can make scrambled eggs."

"Call me before you do that so that I can cut up some fruit and teach you how to make bacon." And she was gone.

Maple found herself going threw her Mom's knickknacks. She had decided to not get rid of a thing of her mom's because one day she might get better. She had had the argument with Panda a few times already, saying that there was hope, that it wasn't false hope, that maybe Maple herself could make her mother better.

When she came across her dad's profiling books, a bit of mischief came into her eye. She put the books in with a few other things in a box and carried it up. Her dad hadn't wanted her to read them, but she had often found herself trying to find them, and now she had.

With a lot of her dad's cloths she donated, the suits going to some charity for boys for prom and work and such. She found a box of papers, and threw out all of his list for things to by and such. If the man had one fault, it was that he never threw anything away. She almost read some of his journal and daily planer, but remembered how he had acted when she had found it under his bed when they were playing hid-and-seek. He might not be done with it yet anyway. She found herself wondering if some of the ghost stories were true. Maybe if she waited long enough, he would fill the rest of the book out so that she wouldn't have to know just how much time he thought he had left.

Reid called her down for dinner a hour later, and the two enjoyed another talk filled dinner again, only this time they talked about books and ended up actually sleeping in their own beds. Before Maple did fall asleep though, she opened one of the books and read a few pages, wanting to learn more about what he and Spencer already know.

AN: Ok, So this was a little longer, and hopefully it all made since, as it does for me.

Two things:

First, I know the five stages of grief already. House was right. I looked it up. :)

Two: My disclaimer is in my profile, also making sure that it is clear that I own those not mentioned in TV shows already.

Also, I don't know why, but I keep thinking that Reid is a really big fan of Bugs Bunny. Maybe for the music, Daffy, whatever. If anyone can think up a reason for why he loves the bunny, I would very much like to hear it.

Press the button readers!! I love to know all of your thoughts. Make me feel like a mind reader. :)


	6. Chapter 6

AU: Hey guys!! sorry it's taken me so long.

I have a whole list of excuses on why it's taken me so long to up this, but mainly my idea for the next chapter threw me off.

Fortunately, SingnedSealedWritten has agreed to look over it and see if she can see if it's just me being paranoid or if it really is off. As always, reviews are welcomed!!

They hadn't really needed to buy much of anything. Maple had been surprised when Reid had brought up buying some paints for her room. She was glad that he seemed to know that she didn't like bright colors all that much. Maybe it was a profiler thing, she would have to ask.

When Reid finally did have to go back to work, Maple was more than happy to go down to Garcia, Panda right on her heal. After a while though, it became a little dull as she couldn't think if anymore questions to ask her. "Pen, can I go walk around a little? I promise I won't bother anyone."

"I don't know Maple. You can't leave any of the floors that we're on, ok? Maybe you could go visit Kevin."

"Who's he?" she asked, getting interested.

"My boyfriend. He's a tech too."

"Cool, another computer nerd. Does he do any RPGs?"

"He's on a couple. I'll PM him, see if he's busy."

After a minute, she shook her head. "Nah, can't go there. He's on a massive search."

"That's alright. I'll find something to do." She said, opening the door and waiting for Panda to do her stretch before following her out.

"Be careful. Don't bother anyone and call me if you get lost."

"Ok Pen." And she was gone.

She found herself in the profilers' kitchenette, eyeing the coffee pot. Her mom had always been against her having a cup, but she couldn't help but wonder what would be so bad about it if everyone drank it.

She got a paper cup and pored almost to the very top of the cup, trying not to spill any. After making sure again that no one was watching her, she poured some sugar in, like she saw Spencer do, and when it was still to biter, she added more.

Once she got it right, it was actually pretty good. She couldn't see what was so wrong with her drinking a cup of coffee. After walking around for a while though, she began to… feel funny. She kinda felt like bouncing, something that she hadn't felt like doing since she was seven. And was her hand shaking? Ah, probably nothing.

She found herself going an hour a minute, and she was feeling giddy now. She also REALLY wanted to start running, but something was holding her back.

She found herself at Morgan's desk; he looked up at her and put his feet down. "Hay Maple, you looking for Reid?"

"No, I was just walking around." Morgan raised an eyebrow at her and spotted the cup in her hand. "What's that kiddo?"

"Coffee, it's really, really good. I like it a lot. I had to put a lot of sugar in it, but once I did that it tasted fine and did you know that coffee is grown in over 70 countries and is said to have originated from Ethiopia, somewhere in Africa and that it is now one of the most common drinks worldwide and boy this stuff is good also did you know that they used to grow coffee in the shade instead of in the sun? It was more earth friendly back then actually but it's still good."

"How many cups have you had?" Morgan asked with a smile. In all reality, he had caught maybe every third word. He wondered if she even breathed during any of that. Probably not.

"Just one."

"Are you sure? How much sugar did you put in?"

"I don't know, enough so that it's pretty sweet now but it's not bitter anymore and that's a good thing right?"

He was trying very hard not to laugh, but shrugged anyway. "I'm not sure. Maybe you should ask Reid."

"Nah, I'm just going to walk around. I feel like walking do you think anyone else feels like walking with me?"

He bit his tongue for a second, and shook his head. "I really don't know Maple. Why don't you ask around?"

"Ok." She said, and hopped to it.

Once she was out of earshot, he snickered into his fist, doubling over, and wondered if he should call Garcia.

Maple went up to Hotch's office first. Since he wasn't doing anything, Maple stuck her head in and waited for him to notice her. "Maple, hey, what are you doing up here?" He asked, somewhat surprised.

"Nothing I just wanted to know if you wanted to go for a walk with me because I kind of feel like going for a walk but if you don't feel like it then that's ok to."

She took another drink, walking in a little more so that he could see her better. A slow smile began to creep up on him. "Maple, is that coffee?"

"Yup and it's really good I like it a lot do you want me to go get you some it's really good once you put sugar into it."

"No thanks, I like mine black."

"Mine is black." She said, looking a little confused.

"It means plain coffee. Nothing in it?"

"What about the beans? If you don't have the beans than its just water."

"I mean coffee straight from the pot. Have you talked with Reid yet?"

"Spencer? Nope. So do you want to go for a walk with me Aaron?"

"Well… not at the moment Maple. I'm waiting for a call. Maybe later?"

"Sure, ok." She seemed a little disappointed, and while this made Hotch feel bad, he got an idea.

"Maybe Rossi would like to go with you?"

"Cool! I'll go ask him. Bye Aaron!"

"No running!" He yelled after her, and she complied, Panda slowing to keep in step with her.

Hotch smiled wide before the call finally came thru.

She went and asked Rossi if he wanted to go for a walk with her, and wanting to get away from the paperwork, he quickly agreed.

"So, you're a coffee fan now?" he asked, a ghost of a smile on his face.

"Yup. I don't know why Mom didn't want me to have this stuff it's really good."

They looked down at the bullpen to see Morgan talking with Reid and Emily, who had gone out to get some lunch. Reid looked up, and behind her back Rossi took out his cell phone while she waved down to them. They waved back and Reid nodded, glade that someone was watching her now.

As they went outside, Maple rambled on and on about one topic and then the next and next. Finally he thought that maybe it would be a good time to slow her down a little.

"So, are you going to paint your new room? Reid said that you two moved into a new house."

"Yeah, Spencer said that it was ok for me to paint pictures on my wall and I was thinking that maybe on one of the smaller walls I would make a scene of a forest from a bird's point of view when it's flying over head."

"Sounds nice. Are you going to do anything else?"

"Yeah, I was going to make a tree fort because we have a hug tree now though I haven't asked him about it yet because I want to paint my room a little first and also I was going to make a zip line from the fort to my room or maybe even a ladder because I think it would be fun what do you think?"

"Where did you come up with these ideas? Are you sure that you can figure out how to do it?"

"I don't know where my ideas come from, they just come. Sometimes I get so many ideas that I feel like my head's going to explode and I'm sure it will work, my stuff almost always work after the first few tries."

"What else have you made?"

"I put a motor on my bike so that I could move around faster, but dad made me take it off because I don't have a licenses. Another time… I don't know, I've made a lot. I'm getting tired."

She did seem to be losing her steam, and she wasn't nearly as smiley or bounce anymore. He gave a chuckle. "That's good, because I wasn't sure if I could make it around the block again."

"We only went around the city block?" She seemed confused, wondering why she was so tired.

"You were bouncing the whole time too. You ran forward and back a couple of times too, but you know that."

"Is this what crashing feels like?" Maple asked, being completely honest.

"Yup." There was a bright smile on his face, but she didn't seem to know how to respond to it.

"I don't like it." She said, letting the tiniest of a whine come into her voice.

"That's why we drink coffee all the time, so that we don't get the crash until later, when we want to. Do you know how much sugar you put in?"

"No." Maple muttered, not having the energy to wonder if she should try to change the subject.

"That's ok. Just means that you put in a lot. Come on, we're almost back at the building."

When they walked in, Panda seemed more energized then either of them. She was running back and forth, and Maple looked at her like one might look at her little brother or sister, with the question of why do you have so much energy, and the slightest hint of disgust that only exhaustion can bring.

When they finally got back onto the profilers floor, Panda had calmed down, and in turn Maple sat down on Emily's chair and put her head down. In a matter of seconds she was out cold.

JJ, Emily, and Reid all looked like they wanted to ask what the heck had been going on, but Morgan and Hotch had filled them in a little. It was Reid who spoke up first while they watched her sleep. "We can't just leave her there."

"We could put her on the couch in the briefing room." JJ put in, and with that Morgan picked her up, having her sit on one arm while with the other he had his hand on her back. "I got'cha kiddo."

She muttered something, moved her head and then sighed and went into a deeper sleep.

They all went up with them, and after Morgan laid her down, Emily got the one blanket that they kept in the room for cases like this and covered her up with it. She moved her hair out of her face, and then they all left, Reid turning out the light.

A little later, knowing that someone might want it, Hotch came in and took a picture of the sleeping child, much as JJ had done with Reid when he had first fallen asleep on the plane. It had been the first time in history that someone had actually looked relaxed after a case in their sleep. She had wanted something to remember the moment, thus a picture.

She woke up a couple of hours later to find someone talking outside the door where she was sleeping. She didn't even question being there since she knew she felt better from before she went to sleep, and remembered about the events beforehand as she wondered who was there. And then she heard Pen and JJ talking. "I'm serious; we shouldn't wake her up yet. She'll be grumpy." JJ said.

"She'll be grumpier still if she doesn't eat something."

Maple got up than and opened the door. "Food sounds really good, actually."

The two of them gasped and jumped, and Maple snickered.

"Did Spencer remember to ask if they had any steak bones or anything like that for Panda?"

"Yup. They had a ham bone. Reid gave it to her as soon as he could."

Maple looked around, but didn't see it, and so looked down at Panda. "Panda, go get your bone girl. Fetch!"

Panda got up, and went under the couch to bring up a chewed up bone. It was almost gone.

"Cool. Come on Panda. I left your dog food at Spencer's desk." She hopped down the steps, and got her chicken salad out of the frig and poured Panda's food into a bowl that always seemed to be in her bag.

She went back down with Garcia to her office to eat and Garcia smiled.

"Alright, I can't not ask any longer: why did you have coffee?"

"I wanted to see what was so great about it."

"I hope you remember to brush your teeth tonight."

She rolled her eyes. "You sound like an over-protective big sister or something."

"Get used to it short stuff, cause you're part of the family now."

Maple smiled and ate.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Ok, so it's not my fault that I haven't uploaded: It's the computers. Hate the machine, not the writer. :)

I would like to thank SingnedSealedWritten for helping me out. She rocks.

Also, While I remember to say thanks, thank you the-vampire-act for getting me to write this.

Hopefully, this story will get better. Tell me what you think! the button makes me happy.

****************

During the next week before she started school, Maple meet a few more people whom she would either see often, or very little.

Strauss was there when she came a few days later, and Maple wondered who she was as she walked past her. She noticed her, but didn't comment on her being there. When Maple went looking around again, this time going onto other floors, she talked with some of the agents who asked her if she was now the youngest agent ever. Maple smiled and shook her head. "I wish. That would be awesome! No though, I'm just an agent's kid."

"I didn't know it was bring your kid to work day." One of them said, being somewhat serious.

Maple saw Panda out of the corner of her eye, and watched as all the hairs began to go up on her back, getting ready to attach and protect. What was this about? She focused back on the two agents again and while one of them was still smiling at her, seeming as normal as can be (Though there were dark circles under his eyes, a common trait in this building) the other one didn't seem to be looking at her the same way. In fact, for a moment she felt like his eyes took in more of her than just her face, and she felt like bolting. She concentrated on the other guy though, feeling that he was safe.

"It's not. I'm starting high school next week and the guy I would be staying with is sick."

"Aren't you a little young to be starting high school?"

"Nope." Maple said, and looked around. "Um, if you don't mind, I'm going to keep walking around. Nice to meet you guys."

"See ya." The two of them said, and she walked away, seeing Panda relaxe with each step, though she was closer to her than normal. She didn't complain though.

She walked around only to find yet another kitchenette, finding that there was at least two on each floor. She saw the lady from earlier, and she saw her.

"Hello there. You came in with Agent Reid, didn't you?"

"Yes Ma'am. My name is Maple. Who are you?"

Strauss smiled. "I am Section Chief Agent Strauss. I am Agent Hotchner boss, who is Agent Reid's boss."

"Oh, so you're Aaron's one up. I was wondering who it was." Maple said, smiling.

Strauss raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, there is a chain of command. I didn't think that Aaron wouldn't have someone who was above him. Dad didn't like his boss though. I hope you're nicer to him. He has a lot on his plate."

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen what the profiler job does to someone. It not always nice, but it only gets harder when you don't think you can trust your boss."

"So do you think that Aaron trust me?"

"I don't know. I'm not a profiler. You are profiler, right? How much field work did it take for you to get to Section Chief?" Maple couldn't fathom why someone would be above people with hard jobs if they didn't understand the jobs themselves. It just didn't make since to her. Like a street cop would be put up to detective, not just straight to detective.

"Well, uh… ha. I've had some field work. Why do you ask?"

"I like asking questions."

"So what is your name?" Strauss asked, trying to change the subject.

"Maple Redwolf. This is Panda."

Strauss seemed surprised. "Not John Redwolf's daughter."

"You knew my dad?" She almost sounded hopeful, and though her profiling skills were not great, she knew kids well enough.

"Only in passing. He was good at his job. We weren't close though. I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's ok. Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Do you know who the guys down the hall are? One had light brown hair and the other guy looked like he colored his hair."

"Ah, I happen to know just who you're talking about. The light brown haired man is Agent Zeffers, and the man who has his hair colored is Agent Deliti. It is about time for their break, and they're pretty good friends, so they are probably still together now. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Maple said. She then said her goodbyes and was on her way.

Maple met Will LaMontagne the next day. At first, she was butting heads with him it seemed, and Reid and JJ were afraid that it wouldn't work out after all. It seemed that Henry was the key to get the two together though. Once Will got Henry in a fit of giggles, and then during his feeding time Maple seemed to teach him how to better aim his food when he trough it, and soon Panda was being fed pieces of cereal.

It seemed to get both of them into a better mode and soon enough they were both talking about how they did somewhat miss the warmer weather, but Maple did state that she was excited for snow, and Will agreed with her that it was a perk.

Of course, soon enough Maple found out that Will could speak French, something not common even in New Orleans, and got him to teach her a few fraises. Of course, the accent wasn't a problem.

"How is it that after barley a day you're already talking like me?" Will asked, honestly curios.

"I'm talking like you? Maple asked, her brow scrunched as she said it. She also seemed to hear herself for the first time, as she blushed a little.

"Guess I am. Sorry." She said, trying to get out of it, but it didn't seem to be working.

Will waved it off. "Hey, if it means that you pick up on stuff faster, so be it. It's pretty cool tho'gh, you have to admit."

Maple smiled, thinking that he was right, it was no big deal.

"So what where you sick with?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Just a 24 ho'r thing. Nothin' serious."

Reid and JJ looked at each other though, both wondering what else this kid to do that even she didn't know about. She and Will ended up talking them into playing a game of poker with them. It was actually funny to watch Reid and Maple as the final two in the game. However, it was Reid who had the final hand, and Maple told him that he needed to teach her better ways to bluff. He promised he would.

When Maple started school, Reid was worried, to say the least. Maple found that she was the one who had to calm him down. "Spencer, really, I'll be fine. I promise. If I need you, I'll call."

"And you promise to tell the teachers if something happens?" He asked as he drove her down.

Maple sighed and nodded. "Yes, I promise."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"SPENCER!"

"Yeah yeah I know."

Maple shook her head. Her parents had freaked out a little too when she had skipped another grade, and she had to do the same thing with them. At least she had had practice.

She waved Spencer goodbye and walked in. Her first day in high school was interesting, to say the least. Everyone was at least a full two heads taller than her, and she was as good-if not better- at the subjects as the rest of them. Word went around the whole school fast that there was a kid in 10th grade. Maple was glad that she had gotten used to jumping grades, otherwise this would have been really hard.

Still, this was different. Some of the kids were mean, asking loudly who would let a baby into high school. Others didn't seem to really care too much. And then there were the nosy ones, and the ones who seemed to be a little worried for her when others made their comments.

During lunch, she had brought her lunch box. She felt that she could get away with a bit of a kidish one as she was a kid, and she liked it. It was a lunch box that you could travel with, but it was blue and had a heart and flower sown into it. She bought milk and walked over to an empty table, only to find herself going face first into the floor. Everyone at the table that she had been walking by started to laugh. Maple checked her wrist to make sure that she was alright, and then got up and faced them.

"I would tell, but something tells me that you're used to being in trouble, so I'll just say this: Do that again, and I'll put a stink bomb in your locker. Do you understand me?"

The room went deathly silent as what she had said whispered around, until finally someone at the other table started laughing.

Pretty soon others joined in, and the only ones who weren't laughing were sitting at the table. The boy who had tripped her clenched his hands and was about to get up when a boy came up behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Now now, you don't want her to have to put that bomb in your locker, do you? Kid, want to come and sit with us? We've got a chair open."

Maple looked at the kids at the table, and then up at him. He seemed nice enough, so she nodded. "Yeah, sure, ok."

She walked over with them to find table of sniggering teenagers.

"Kid, that was great." A red haired boy said.

She smiled again. "Thanks. I really did mean it though. I've done it before, with this girl back in my home state."

"So where are you from?"

"Florida. Near the Air Force base there."

"So what's your name short stuff?" A girl asked, reminding her of Pen.

"I'm Maple."

"Well, I'm Mark." The boy who had gotten her from the other kids said.

"The one who called you short stuff is Jan, he's Jimmy, but we all call him Red, and she's Rene" He said, pointing to a black girl, who waved, "He's Johny-Boy."

"JB if you like" The blond kid said.

"And of course, last but not least is Kim, our artist."

A girl with black hair and green eyes smiled. "Yo."

"We're kinda the drama club. Kim does the back stage stuff, and plays small roles if no one else will do them, and the rest of us are always in the plays. What about you?"

"I'm mainly a gadget girl. But I know how people are supposed to act at times."

"Oh yeah?" Jan asked, a ghost of a smile on her face.

"Yeah, my dad was a profiler and I caught some tricks from him."

"Really? That's cool. What does he do now?"

Maple opened and closed her mouth before she found her voice.

"He died. I'm living with a friend of his. He's a profiler too. I've meet his team too. There all pretty cool."

"Hey, I'm sorry about your dad." Rene said.

Maple smiled and shrugged. "Hey, it's alright."

"What about your mom?" JB asked.

"So what play are you guys doing next?" Maple asked, turning to Jan.

They got the hint, and ran with it.

The rest of her day had gone pretty well. Will ended up picking her up, and they took dinner to the team. Maple chatted away with everyone about how much fun she had on her first day of school when she saw the Agent from upstairs, Deliti. He caught her eye and she felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. She couldn't look away. She didn't want to seem scared of him, didn't want him to feel powerful in her fear. Emily broke the connection though, and soon enough she was trying to act normal again.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Ok, so I''m sorry that my last chapter was a little messed up. I forgot to do a few things, but I promise to fix them soon so that it's readable.

I like this one. Hopefully I can get more of the team in the next one, but by god they're hard to write without making them OC.

Anyway, Enjoy!! And please review.

Ever since she had started school, the whole team was acting weird. Even Will was acting weird, and that was saying something. When she managed to corner someone about it, they passed it off as it simply being the case, no big deal of course, it was just a tough one, and it involved a lot of families. Just made them worry about their own a bit more. Morgan told her that if his own family was in the state that he would be spending every minute with them, but since they weren't, he could breath a little easier than, say, Hotch, JJ, or Reid.

She finally accepted this and left it alone. Maybe she could get Reid to tell her if she heard him wake up again or something. She was spending a lot of time at JJ and Will's house this week though. By Thursday, she was just hoping that Reid would come home for a little while. She was starting to miss talking about his nothing, instead of Will's nothing, and hearing his views instead of Will's views. She loved them both, and wanted to spend time with both, but it didn't seem to be happening anytime soon.

Will understood and summed it up pretty well: He was the Uncle who was cool to be with, but Reid was like the dad who just knew a little bit better.

She smiled at that, which made him smile in turn.

And then there was Friday.

On Friday, Kim brought in a paper during lunch and was showing the others an article when Maple and Red walked to the table.

They had taken to not letting her walk by herself as some teacher had asked how it was that she could get an A on her first day, yet some of the other students had gotten a D. Red himself had been one to get a D, but he never thought that his future had much to do with math. Besides, she ran circles around everyone. Was he so stupid that he thought nothing would come from this statement? Though maybe that was the point…

Maple noticed the paper first. "What are you guys reading about?"

They all jumped and Kim and Rene where stuffing the paper away. "Nothing, kid. Nothing at all. How as you doing Mape?"

As much as she liked her new found nickname, she wasn't stupid. "Fine. Better than expected. Let me see the paper."

The girls looked at each other. "Really, Maple, it's no bog deal."

"Mark is a better lier than you two, you should have had him talk. What is going on guys?"

After a staring contest they gave it to her. "Front page. Don't say we did warn you." Rene said, not liking giving in.

Maple quickly found it, and despite what she told everyone else, she read it a bit quicker than most adults. They watched as she turned the page, not saying anything at all when she put it down and stared at the only pictures they offered for the article: One was of JJ, standing and telling everyone about who they were looking for, how to keep their daughters safe, and then at the top, a row of 6 smiling faces, in the order that they were taken.

These where the faces that made everyone worry, because they all had a few things in common: They were young, they had dark hair, and they had brown eyes.

And those where just the physical things that they had in common. Maple was rereading some things that the parents where saying about their girls, and she couldn't help but understand why everyone was so on edge.

"She was bright"

"Could be alone, but liked having friends around."

"Smiled, even when she was sad, and tried to make everything bad seem like no big deal."

"She was strong."

"She wanted to help others all the time, no matter what."

She looked down at it, and felt her mind going a little faster than normal. Of course there were some things that she could cross of that she didn't have in common with the girls. For one thing, like Jamie and Ali, she didn't have the normal since of family. Unlike half of the girls, she didn't go to church. She was also an only child, like Ali, but she did spend a lot of time with Henry. She loved him like a little brother.

But god help her if she didn't have everything else in common with them. The only thing that she didn't have in common was her age, she was a little older, but something told her that the reason one of the was younger than the rest was because she was taller than normal, and Maple knew that she was shorter than most girls her age.

"Maple? You ok hun?" Kim asked her. Maple looked up at them, and put a smile on her face, semi-unaware of what she was doing. "Yeah, just… I just have to…"

She stopped than and looked at them, then the paper and back again. "Should I tell them that I know? Should I ask them why they didn't tell me?"

"They didn't tell you because they didn't want you to worry. Come on, you know that. They care about you." Rene said, putting her hand on her shoulder.

"They still should have told me. I mean, I have a lot in common with them. I would have understood better why they've been acting so weird. I… I would have known what kind of person to look for and not be in the dark!!"

"I know it might seem that way Maple, but even you can't read everyone."

"Oh please, I know of 3 men who fit this profile. One of them isn't even in this age rang, but age is hard to pinpoint with unsubs."

"Really? Are you going to tell your family about them?" Mark asked.

She gave a small sighed and shook her head. "No. One of them works for the Bureau as well, ones mister Hinster, and than the other one is to scrawny for it to be him, he isn't strong enough."

"Are MATH teacher could be the guy killing these girls?!" Red almost yelled, eyes wide.

Maple shrugged. "Well, he stares. The only reason I don't think it's him is because he doesn't think he could ever call any of the students he likes his own. That's why he doesn't try to show his… appreciation privately, but publicly, knowing full well what it could do to said students. I mean, come on, you guys see the way he treats Jeremy? Poor kid's always getting pushed around because that dude can't keep his mouth shut."

"Not to mention that he does the same to you." Red put in.

"Come off it, we both know I can take care of myself, I have magic on my side. Plus, I know 8 people who will gladly shot them for me, and if nothing else I'll have Derek drop me off one day."

"Take it he's big?" Mark asked with a smile.

"He used to be a football player. He picks me up like I'm nothing but a sack of potatoes." She bragged a little, smiling wide. She had found like she liked that she could be picked up so easily. Her own dad had stopped doing it when she turned six, and it was something that she had missed.

"Cool kid. Just make sure he knows what he's dropping you off for." Kim said, and they smiled.

"Now, can we get to business? You said you could make us something to help us with our comedy play." Mark stated, though there might have been the hint of a question. Maple nodded and started doing over her trip machine, so that they wouldn't have to get outside help and have someone forget like last time. Kim was the only one who could partly keep up, or at least she pretended to better.

She was Agent Bond, and no one could be as deadly silent as her. No one was as good as sneaking info as her.

Of course, getting Spencer's files was made easier by the fact that he had fallen asleep with them at the table. She couldn't help but be glad he left the pictures at work, knowing that she might see them.

However, all she wanted was locations.

She wanted to know where the girls were taken. The only black girl to be taken, Ashta (Which she knew from the papers was after her great-grandmother) and Tina were the only ones who were taken from their beds. The other four had been taken close to home.

She had trouble understanding why they were taken so easily, why no one had heard. They where fighters, and at the end they would have known to scream. Hell, she knew she would have been screaming the whole time.

She quickly copied the addresses, not interested to see where the bodies turned up, and just as she had moved her hand away from putting it back, Spencer stirred, sitting up as soon as he saw her.

"What time is it?"

"Bedtime. I was just coming to get you Spence. Come on; let's put your files away. You won't do anyone any good like this."

"Yeah, maybe you're right." The genius yawned.

"Of course I'm right, I'm a girl. We're always right."

"You know that that isn't proven."

"Sure Spencer. Whatever you say. Upsy daisy."

They left the files on the table, Spencer waved her goodnight as he walked into his room, and she went upstairs, googling the best rout.

"Alright Panda, first alley didn't have much. I could see that she tried to hid, that's about it. You?"

When Panda said nothing, Maple sighed. "that's what I thought. Come on, next."

At the last stop, it was so close to the FBI building that she was glad she had made planes to meet them back there, though someone always did call every ten minutes, on the dot.

This last one though… she could see a fight better here. She put herself into the girls shoes, a played pretend, as her mother had put it. Now she liked the color pink. Now she was claustrophobic. And now she had a loving mother and father somewhere, and had simply walked around the building a little while her mom talked with her sister about getting her hair done.

No one had heard her scream, and that didn't surprise her. She wasn't a very good screamer. Not like the others might have been, but she knew she couldn't. She looked around wildly as she would have done, and went to the first hiding place she saw. There, on the ground behind the dumpster, was a shoe print. It didn't look like anyone had done anything with it, but she would figure out how to tell them about it later. How did he see her? How did he know where she was?

She couldn't think like the unsub right now, and something told her that she didn't know how she was spotted. Unless it was a dog, but…

Maple looked over at Panda. She didn't act like she smelled another dog, but that didn't mean much. She could have only been able to smell the trash, like her. Maple looked around again, and noticed that there was only one way to get out of there, and it would have been threw the unsub.

Maple could have cried for the girl. She knew she had been scared, and she knew that she had been angry. Maple was sad to see that there wasn't any blood on the ground, but maybe he was walking with a limp now. Now there was a kick that made most men sink to the ground.

Maple went to the building, and put some perfume on Panda and herself from someone's desk. She was supposed to have been in shops after all, not hoping around town.

A week had gone by and there still wasn't anything. Maple still hadn't found a way to tell them about the print, but after another girl was taken from her bed, it didn't seem to matter.

So after the girl had been dumped sooner than the others, Maple stopped trying to go out on her own. Even her friends were taking extra care on keeping an eye on her. If there was a moment that she might have been alone, it was ruined by them. The library, always a safe haven for her, suddenly had at least one person who didn't want to be there when she was there, but they never said anything.

Morgan looked at Reid from Hotch's desk. "I'm worried about Reid." he suddenly said.

Hotch didn't even look up. "He's been a little on edge."

"A little? He's lost sleep!!"

"I know, but trust me, when it's the victims who remind you of someone you love and not the unsubs who remind you of you, it's a little harder."

"He's not doing anyone any good like this though. Did you see Maple the other day? Every time she thought no one was watching her, that smile of hers would go and she would be watching Reid. Hotch, she looked worried. Maybe we should tell her more."

"That was Reid's choice. He didn't want to tell her, and the likely hood that she will be targeted is slim. We're keeping an eye on her. Once we catch this guy, he'll be fine. We all will."

"Man, I hope you're right."

Maple was playing outside with Panda and Henry. Henry liked 'tossing' the ball for Panda, and Maple was glade she was such a good sport. Sometimes the ball went behind them, sometimes to the left or right. Once it bounced off the top of Maple's head, landing at their feet, and Will almost fell over laughing.

Now Will had gone inside to change the babe, and Maple was giving Panda some real throws so she wouldn't feel bad later.

"Hello Miss Redwolf. How are you today?"

Maple nearly jumped out of her skin. "Agent Deliti!! What- What are you doing here?"

Maple backed up as he got closer, and when he stopped she stopped. A smile grew on his face. "Everyone on Hotchner's team seems to be worried about you. I just thought I would check on you myself. You didn't answer my question though: How are you? How's high school?"

"I'm fine. It's fun. I've got some friends there. Do you want me to tell Will that you're here?"_ I'm not alone, so leave me alone._

"No, I won't be here long. Listen, I've got something in the car that Jereau will need, you want to help me bring it in?"

"Um, well, I…"

"It would be a big help for me. Than I can get back to work."

She thought about it. _Someone is waiting for him. He needs help so he can go back sooner. He's an FBI Agent. Mom and Dad say that we should help people when we can. He'll leave sooner._

It was the last thought that sold her, and she went to his car, standing to the side of his trunk.

Maple gave a cry.

AN: HAHA!! A Cliffy!!

I will not post more untill someone at least makes a review saying-if nothing else- "More!!"

Look, I just want to see who is actually READING this. Don't even have to be a member.

Be creative. tell me to shove off, talk about episode 100 of CM. ANYTHING!!

Thank you for your time. :)


	9. Chapter 9

AN: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed on the last chapter. Hearing from someone was great, even though I didn't know how to reply to everything.

And I would also like to thank everyone who has reviewed in the past, not to mention all people who added me to any list at all. I've come to really love it.

I own Maple, Panda and Deliti. Pretty much everyone else come from CM planet. :)

Maple looked down at her arm to see a dart sticking out of it.

She started to run, but he grabbed her and threw her against the car. "You're mine."

She found herself wondering what he meant as she kicked him. There was a wild bark and Panda was on top of him, teeth in the man's arm, and she wasn't letting go anytime soon.

"Good girl Panda. Good… Good girl." Why didn't her mouth do what she wanted? Her head was spinning a little too.

She took her phone out and pressed Spencer's speed dial. Will was running to them when Deliti was screaming, Will's gun in hand, and she wondered where it had been hidden. She put the phone up to her ear while the man screamed, and smiled when she heard his voice.

They were starting to get really worried by the pattern. At first, it had been that they had at least a few days in between each girl, enough time for the last body to get cold. Now it was barley a few hours, and all that they were waiting for was for him to screw up.

Reid sighed and rubbed his eyes, wondering if until that time if it would be better to take Maple out of school. But then he would have to tell her about what was going on, and he didn't want to scare her.

Of course, this is what he HAD been thinking, until his phone rang, until he saw who it was, until he answered, worried because she almost never called while she was with Will, and started to feel panicked when he heard screaming- was that a man?!

"Maple? Maple, what's going on? Who's screaming?"

"I guess now I know why people are so scared of pits…" It was almost funny, in a twisted sorta way.

"Stay with me here Maple!! What did Panda do?!"

"My good girl…" Boy she was tired, and since Panda was there, it was safe to sleep, right?

Will took the phone away from her and had his hand on her arm.

"Reid?! I think she's ok, but there's a dart in her arm… Yeah, Panda's jaw isn't letting go anytime soon. I don't know who this guy is. Don't worry, I already called 911… Actually, I left the phone off the hock… Well, I couldn't just leave her out here, and you and I both know they can trace land lines."

Maple could hear sirens, but she couldn't figure out what they were. For the first time in her life, her mind couldn't catch up with what was going on around her, and while that might of scared her, she was getting too tired to care.

Will knelt in front of Maple. "Stay awake for a little while longer, ok?"

"I-I know why they didn't-didn't…" she let the thought go, maybe it could wait until later.

"Didn't what Maple?"

She closed her eyes, only to have them pride open again by some guy with a light.

God, how she hated being woken up.

Reid meat them at the hospital. Everyone had piled into the car, none really caring that the unsub was there.

Reid ran in and almost ran straight into Will, who was holding Henry.

Will saw the panicked look in his eyes knowing where it came from: seemed that father gene was kicking and screaming. "Reid, she's ok. She's breathing fine, and I've been watching her room to make sure that nothing is wrong, and trust me, I would have noticed."

"Are you sure?!" Part of Reid's mind was telling him there was no need for this panic, she was fine…

"I'd bet my life on it."

"If Panda at least gave him a scare, I'll let Maple give her whatever she wants." …and a louder part was telling that part to shut the hell up.

"If it makes you feel any better, I think he's going to have some nerve damage. The only reason that dog's not still on him is because Maple came out of it enough to call her over."

Oddly, it made him feel giddy and slightly sick. He looked around. "What do I need to do?"

Without missing a beat, Will handed him a clip board. "Finish up these forms. I have no clue about half this stuff."

"I can help you with that." Emily offered.

Spencer shook his head. "I'll only be a few minutes."

3 minutes and 47 seconds. Eidetic memory had charms.

Two doctors where walking towards them. "Redwolf?"

The team walked over.

"Deliti?"

They looked at him. "That's us too. We think that he's the suspect in our case."

The first doctor, a brown haired woman, looked around. "So where is Miss Redwolf's family?"

Reid moved in front. "She's my daughter." The team looked at him for a moment to let it sink in, before deciding it was going to happen sooner or later.

She nodded. "Ok, well than let me tell you that she's going to be just fine. A little bruised, but in a few hours that sedative that he gave her will wear off, and you'll be able to take her home. There is bruising on her back, which will be quite painful for a while, but nothing else to worry about. Also, the medics would like me to tell you that he dog followed them here."

A quiet French cures could be heard behind them, and Reid smiled.

They looked over to the other doctor, a big man who looked like he could crush someone rather than fix them, but maybe that helped in the ER. "Deliti is not so well off. There is bruising on his abdomen: It looked like a small foot print. I'm assuming it's from Miss Redwolf, seeing how fresh it is. Even his organs are bruised." The man couldn't have seemed happier about this without being unprofessional. "His arm is the most to worry for though. The dog bit is clean, but there is some nerve and muscle damage that I don't think he'll get back anytime soon: He's in surgery now for that. Also, there are some old marks on his arms, in rows of four. Some are a little older than others. Not to mention he has some mild bruising on his leg. I don't think there is anything else wrong with him other than that."

Hotch stuck out his hand. "Thank you for your time, both of you." He shook the man's hand and then took the woman's hand in a firmer grip. "And thank you for taking good care of Maple."

"Anytime."

Reid took her hand as well, and then left and came back with Panda on his heal. Henry cued and Will walked them to the seat, putting Henry next to the giant dog so he could get a handful of fur. Panda just sat there, panting. Emily followed Spencer to Maple's room before they had a chance to move her, though neither said anything.

As Reid watched her, all he could wonder was if it was his fault.

This might have been better prevented if he had talked to her.

AN: Ok, so I figgured one of two things about Reid: He's human. I know how to do emotions, but once we get to thought...

I figured that the emotions take over every now and than. And about that whole Maple can give Panda whatever she wants line... to anyone who has never spent a lot of time with kids, you almost always end up making some kind of deal, during some part of their life, no matter what. Be it to be quite of be safe, it always happens. :)

Now, review to tell me if this counts as a cliff hanger or not, because I really don't know. lol. Thanks!!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. This was killing me. Someone gave the idea that there should be Reid angst and I wanted there to be a lot of it and I went brain dead and than freakin' CHRISTMAS came around and....

I'm sorry. Please Enjoy?

* * *

Maple suddenly woke up and opened her eyes. She wasn't sure where she was for no more than a second before she realized that everything she saw and heard meant that she was in a hospital.

Maple looked at her arm and her stomach did a flip flop. An IV: Also known as a needle. She wasn't to found of those. She looked over and saw that David and Aaron where talking somewhat close to the door. She sat up a little only to gasp from the pain in her back. Suddenly Panda's head shot out of nowhere and she cried out in shook. Both of the men looked at her and almost ran to her.

"Are you ok?" David asked.

"Panda startled me, that's all. Where's Spencer?" Her head felt like it was on a bit of an overload, but she figured that was from the adrenaline that Panda had caused to shot threw her.

"He had to go to the bathroom; he's been sitting here since you got a room." Aaron said, looking worried.

Maple nodded, which reminded her that her back hurt, which made her wonder why her back hurt, which made her remember more clearly the fight that she had had. She had not forgotten it; the thought had simply been like a person standing in a room, waiting to be notice, though part of her had always seen the person.

She looked at them. "Can you guys help me sit up?"

Wordlessly, each grabbed an arm and put a hand on her shoulders before pulling her up. She bit back a whimper that wanted to come out, but knew that it would do no good. Better to keep it to herself.

Once she was settled, she looked up to see Spencer with a cup of coffee in his hands, looking sad.

"Sorry I wasn't here when you woke up Maple."

"It's alright. You can make it up to me by getting extra cheesy pizza when we get home." She flashed a smile, trying to get him to not look so… glum.

Like she wanted to see him look worried.

"Look, Maple, I'm sorry. This was my fault. He's gotten other girls and if I hate warned you-" Ah, the good old blame game. Maple cut him off.

"Actually he's kidnapped and killed 11 girls now, 4 before I even got here, but 6 before they brought in the BAU. The dump sits aren't really important, but he likes to pretend that he's getting a girl who is simple tired from playing with him all day, so he drugs them, also making it easier to catch them. The drug also makes it hard to talk. That's how he found that one girl who was so close to Quantico: She had hidden behind a dumpster and I guess she couldn't stay awake anymore. I knew already Spencer. Besides, I knew to be prepared. I mean, come on, I'm an FBI kid. I'm smart. And apparently I'm not too bad looking to pedophiles, as this is actually about the second time something like this has happened."

"Maple, why did you tell me all this? It would have worked with the profile."

"Actually, I only just found out about the drugs myself, and I didn't think the rest was really important, seeing as you don't seem to like me being on my own all around town."

"You went around town?!" There we go, she thought. Protector mode coming in. His voice was braking a little.

"I had Panda." She shrugged. No biggie.

"…I wish I had told you though." Reid said, looking sad… again.

"I wish so too, but it wouldn't have mattered. It wouldn't have helped. I still would have been in trouble."

It was like two alpha males staring each other down for a minute there. Have you ever seen two dogs trying to see who was the strongest? Well, these to where trying to see who was right. Not the strongest, not the smartest, but right. Reid dropped his eyes first.

Maple squeezed his hand and he pushed back her hair.

"You're not going to let me feel sorry, are you?"

"Nope. Get used to it. So… what do I have to do now?"

He was saved from answering when Emily walked in. "Hey Maple, how are you feeling?"

"Fine Em. I'm good. I was… I was actually just asking Spencer what I have to do now." She looked at her, dark eyes meeting dark eyes, and Emily sat down on the bed, keeping the contact.

"Well, if Reid doesn't mind…?" She looked at him for a moment, and he seemed a little more relaxed. "Go ahead." He said, backing off to the other guys.

Maple looked at Emily. "So?"

"Well, when you're reading, we're going to need a statement. Strauss has requested that she be present when you give it as well, but I'm sure that I can get her to let it just be the two of us or you and Reid or whomever you want it to be on the team. Just say the word."

Maple nodded a little, placing her hand on Panda's head. Part of her was thinking about being asked about what had happened, while another part of her wondered how they convinced them to let the dog in. There was also a new invention idea going on in the back of her head, but it was never quiet up there anyway.

Finally she spoke up without looking at anyone. "Actually, I want it to just be Strauss and I, if that's alright."

No one said anything for a moment before Hotch came over. "Maple, are you sure? I'm sure that it would be a little easier if one of us was with you."

"No, I'm sure. I've…" She put a smile on her face and looked up at him. "I'm sure Aaron."

Morgan walked in, followed by JJ, Garcia, and Will, who was holding Henry. "Hey Cheri. How you doing?"

Maple rolled her eyes and took Henry in her arms, muttering something about repeat questions as far as anyone could tell. Henry laughed when Panda put her went nose on the babe.

Morgan pulled the team aside. "Deliti has refused a lawyer."

"Good" Hotch said. As long as no one tried to prove that he was insane, than this might end quickly.

"He says that there are more girls that we don't know about. He only wants to tell Maple about them."

Everyone within earshot looked at him like he had grown a second head. Morgan nodded with a bitter smile. "That's what I said. I was thinking maybe Prentiss could take him on, since you look like his type."

"That's fine with me." She replied.

"What if she can't? Will we try to have Maple talk to him?" Rossi asked.

Reid looked ready to kill. "No. She didn't sign up for this. She's too young."

"She could do it Reid." Emily said.

He just looked at the floor.

Hotch stepped in. "Look, we can't do anything until we get him into an interrogation room anyway. When we get there, Prentiss will take him on first. We'll figure everything else out after."

"Agent Hotchner? There is a call for you and your team from a Section Chief Strauss. You can take it in one of our doctor's offices if you like. He's out for the day.

JJ, Emily and Reid looked at Maple. "Do I need to go?" JJ asked.

"No, but Reid, Prentiss, I do need you two." After a moment, they sighed and left, knowing they wouldn't be long. All she wanted was an update, and they all knew it.

Maple looked up when they left, and once they were gone she looked at Henry, not really wanting to look Will or JJ in the eye. "So he's in the hospital too."

They both knew it wasn't a question, but he nodded anyway. "Yeah. Don't worry though, he's stuck in his room. He can't go anywhere without at least one officer watching him. Not to mention all the doctors and nurses. You're safe."

"I know I am. I've got you guys and Panda here. How come Derek looked so mad for a minute there?"

JJ smiled a little. "Just the unsub. He's making us look at hard choices that no one wants to make."

"Does anyone know why Deliti chose me?"

"Cheir, it's not your fault. It's just… there's no easy way to say this, but… you where his type." Will said, remembering all of the cases he had to work, and almost shuddered.

"But why? Why can't he be like everyone else? Why can't he want people his own age?"

They were silent as she looked at them, trying to will them to give her a good answer, to know the answers to her questions. But JJ just shook her head. "I don't know kiddo. I really don't know. All I do know though is that it's nobody fault but his… and that you got hurt because of him."

Henry didn't seem to really notice that she squeezed him a little tighter, for whatever reason neither of the adults really knew other than if was for comfort. How where they to know that that was only part of it? How where they to know that she were making a promise that every big sister made? How where they to know that she was promising to protect him from everything?

Henry grabbed a hand full of hair with one hand and a handful of fur with the other. She smiled and gave him a kiss, and if he were older he might have noticed that her eyes looked a little glossy. But he wasn't, so he didn't.

* * *

They came back soon after, and after another hour of people running in and out to take care of god knows what, everyone decided that it was time to get something to eat. Maple asked if Henry could stay with her since he was asleep next to her anyway.

Will and JJ looked at each other. "A moment together? Without the baby?" Will asked.

"To good to be true." JJ nodded.

Maple laughed a little.

"Alright, let's go before this moment can be taken away from us." Will said.

JJ nodded and they both slowly walked out, making both Reid and Maple laugh.

After a few minutes of them being gone though, Maple repeated her question from earlier, again looking only at Henry. "Why did Deliti choose me?"

"There are a lot of theories on that Maple."

"Tell me what you think."

He watched her. He watched her as she moved some of Henry's hair, as she grabbed his hand, and she put a hand on his back, making sure he was breathing it seemed, and than repeat.

"I think that it's everything. I think that it has a little to do with how he might have been raised, what he may have seen when he was younger. I think that there might be something in the genes to go along with it. I think that something recently happened- his stressor-that just made him feel like he should or could do this. And I think… I think that when this happened, I think that either than or soon after, he saw a little girl who looked a little like you, who was the same height, the same look in her eyes, who he thought was bright… I think that everything and anything helped to turn him into the monster who hurt all toughs girls. Or at least, helped bring it out."

"You think it might have been in him the whole time?"

"Honestly Maple… I'm not sure. I just don't know. I can tell you what other people think word for word, but I don't know if they're right."

Maple nodded, and did something she didn't do before: She started crying, and crying hard. And he held her as he had once seen a mother holding her child in the story after it had fallen and hit it's head on a shelf. He gathered her up, taking care to not bother Henry in and way, and let her cry.

* * *

A/N: Please review what you think. I have an idea of what is going to come up next, though at this point I'm just the hands that write the story. And Reid is trying to make himself better known threw Maple, which is throwing me, so blame him. lol.

Also, any and all ideas are welcomed. Even if I don't use them, it keeps me from-again- going brain dead. I can't wait for your reviews!! :)


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Wow, an update? Who would'da thunk?! Yeah yeah, alright, so if you remember, bad guy tried to take Maple- Whom is as freaky smart as Reid, and has a special way of finding things out about other people (Which I've figured out how while watching The Mentalist, something even I didn't know before) and is strangely attached to Panda(Her dog) Whom saved her. She spends a lot of time with Will and Henry after school, and gets along with everyone. Deliti is an FBI agent who is also the bad guy. Maple beat up bad guy a little, bad guy was caught, now I get to play more mind games... As long as I remember to write it out and update. Also, ideas are welcomed(please and thank you) and don't flame, but honesty is welcome. Remember, there is a polite way to call someone an idiot.

Disclaimer: I do Not own Burger King, nor do I own the Criminal Minds char.s. I'll update my profile dissy pronto. Thanks!! Pain

Maple smiled brightly when she saw what everyone brought in. Burger King. Not the hospital food that she had heard of and learned to fear, but Burger King. Sure, she knew that it wasn't much better, but it was a treat and by god for once she was going to act her age and love the junk food.

She found that she was really hungry, and even stole some of Reid's onion rings while he was talking. When she went for a third though, just to see if he would EVER notice, he shooed her hand away without even really looking. Her jaw dropped and she found herself smiling wide. She had found a new game, at least for the next time they went out to eat.

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The doctor came and went, telling them that they could go when they were ready and leaving instructions on what to do for pain and swelling. He also left an address where she could get some physical therapy if she needed it. Insurance seemed to cover everything, which she was glad for, being all too aware on how much everything coasted these days.

Maple tried to make everyone leave so she could get out of the hospital gown, but it ended up being only the guys who left. Maple glared at Garcia, Emily and JJ in turn. "I really can take care of myself."

"Maple, you haven't even tried to get up yet." JJ pointed out.

Maple sighed. "Fine, I'm getting up."

She turned to get out of her bed and her breath left her body. She found part of herself trying to find an escape and gave it one, looking at the page of all the mussels and nerves in her back that she looked at a while back in a biology book. She was trying to push it away and understand it at the same time. It was easy once she knew how.

She worried about her spine. Was there a pinched nerve in there somewhere? A slipped disk maybe? God, there were so many things that she hadn't even heard about yet. This couldn't simply be a bruise, could it? That's all everyone said it was

Emily came in front of her. "Maple, you alright? Maple, look at me hun." She was right in front of her, trying to look in her eyes. Maple's eyes where unfocused, and she knew the look. Reid had had it on his face once or twice, seeing things and making connections that no one else could make. To put it even similar, she was thinking, and it wasn't something pleasant.

Maple DID focus on her though soon enough, and after a moment of fear, she smiled. "I'm fine, really, I just… didn't realize. I mean, I know how much you use your back for everything, but I didn't realize at the same time, you know?"

Emily nodded. "I understand. Would you like some help standing?"

Maple blushed a little. "Yes please."

Garcia came over and together they got her standing. When Maple tried to get her pants on, it was with a cry and standing up again, unable to get there. She looked at them and walked to the bathroom, holding onto what she could to make sure she didn't fall. She went in front of the mirror, turned around and let the gown drop so she could see her back. It didn't hurt too much when she simply tried to play owl now, but the shook at seeing her bruised body made up for that.

"Oh my god… oh my god… can… can I see my chart?" surely there had to be some internal damage, this just looked to bad- to horrible for there not to be something wrong. Without a word Emily grabbed it and gave it to her, and she read over everything. It seemed they had taken advantage of her being drugged to do x-rays and cat scans and even an ultrasound to make sure everything was ok. Nothing else seemed to be wrong with her though, but still…

She looked up at the girls. "I know that I really shouldn't care, and I know that they probably will, but this will fade" she motioned to her back "right?"

JJ was the one who answered. "Of course it will. Soon it'll be nothing more than a memory, I promise."

Maple looked at her back. "I can't believe it hurts so much to move. What about school? I have to go."

They looked at each other. "We'll figure it out baby girl." Garcia said.

Maple hated herself for not being able to take care of herself, but pride was something she had to swallow, and it didn't want to stay down. When her shirt was pulled over her head, she went to at least pull her arms threw and started shaking from pulling the mussels. Emily helped her to make it go by faster, and she silently thanked her for that.

And then a wheel chair was pushed in by a nurse when they went to check out, and she was forced to sit down in it. Morgan took over pushing her, and they all started talking about this and that. Maple even smiled when she heard someone cry out for her. She looked around and heard a commotion coming from a room almost right next to her.

JJ and Will both went in front of her, trying to block the coming view, but it didn't work. She could see Deliti wave to her, a smile on his face, and she saw where Panda bit him, knew where she kicked him and knew what the other girls saw last, and felt sick. Spencer bent down. "I'm so sorry; we tried to time it for when he was in another room. I'm so sorry." He stood back up and he and Deliti locked eyes. Maple was looking at him too. Each one he caught in his gaze, but it wasn't until he looked into her eyes that he smiled, and suddenly she wished that she wasn't so curious, that she was like any other kid who knew to be scared of the buggy man instead of just knowing that you had to be careful around him.

They quickly left, being followed by cries of "Your mine Maple! You're mine and you know it!!"

When they got into the elevator, Emily noticed something that Maple hadn't realized; she was shaking.

Something moved inside her that hadn't moved since she had considered adopting a girl from one of their cases. She knelt in front of her and carefully wrapped her arms around her. Maple was at first taken by surprise, but she was still young enough to be able to put her head on her shoulder and not be embarrassed. "It's going to be ok. He can't hurt anyone anymore, least of all you."

Maple didn't cry, she didn't scream, she didn't push her away and say she was fine, she didn't say that she already knew that. She didn't say a word. Because part of her liked hearing it, knew that she would need to hear it again and again for a while, and they knew it too…

But it had been so long since she had felt safe in someone's arms, had been so long since a hug felt like a mother's hug, that she never wanted to moment to end.

But it did end. It ended when she sat up a little and smiled at her, it ended after Emily gave her a kiss on the cheek and told her again that everything would be ok…

And it was nothing more than a memory after they had gone out and found a mob of people waiting for them, most news people…

But also a few sickos, people who thought that he was some kind of god… And people who didn't want to see him rot in prison, but to see him go into a hospital and get help. They all stopped and stared open mouthed at the crowd, even JJ who had heard nothing of this. She had been so careful, how did they find out…?

Hotch looked clenched his hands as he looked at the crowd. "His lawyer must have said something."

"He has one already?" Garcia asked.

"They were talking on the phone. He must have let some story leak."

"Seems kinda stupid to do that. What about parents of the girls?" Will asked, knowing that they wouldn't have told them.

Hotch looked at Maple out of the corner of his eye. She caught it. "What?"

He sighed. "From a courts point of view, to him, you're the best chance at his client spending a lot of years behind bars. If he were to overwhelm you though, maybe scare you off and make it so that you wouldn't say anything against him, he might have a better chance."

She looked at the crowd and sighed. "Did he really think that a bunch of yelling and flashing lights where going to scare me? Being bumped around might be a problem, but honestly, have you seen how big Derek is? And if Aaron looks at anyone long enough they'll be convincing even wrong they have ever done in minutes."

"Oh? And what about me munchkin?" Garcia asked.

"You can scare them later, once they realize that they no longer exist on any file…. Anywhere."

Laughs and eye rolls went around, though they all knew it to be true. Maple and Spencer where both looking out the doors after a few seconds that everyone wished could have lasted longer. "There are too many people out there. Someone might try and make it so that he has a better chance than even the lawyer could hope for to go free." Maple said.

"Bullets are a lot of people's choice anymore. Though a knife would be better in this crowd, silent and they could probably take it with them."

"How many other ways are there to get out of here?"

"….8. We need to see if any of the other exits are being covered."

"Security should have cameras everywhere. Let's go check them out." Turned out that there were only two being mobbed, all of the others were safe. Derek and Hotch went and got the cars. JJ and Will took Henry home after they were sure that if they where needed they would be called.

Everyone else ended up at Reid's house, and only God knows how Morgan and Garcia started cooking. While Garcia made some dessert tray that she said was passed down from mother to daughter, Morgan made fried chicken. Of course, when they had announced to everyone that they were treating the team to such a fine dinner, Kevin was called over, along with Jack, and finally JJ and Will.

Maple was happy to meet the mine Hotch. Of all things that the kid could love, it happened to be G.I. Joes and some form or another of Superhero's. His two favorites seemed to be a certain Batman, who happened to not only look a little like his dad, but acted a little like him too, though almost never in front of Jack… and of all the heroes he could have learned to love, it was Jean who had also caught his eye. "She's like Mommy, but has Red hair and Green eyes."

After looking at the action figure for a moment, she could see where he had gotten the idea from. She had the same shaped face, it seemed the same nose… and from the shows she had seen and what she had read, maybe she acted like the hero too. It wouldn't have surprised her in the least at this point if the kid one day ended up joining the BAU himself.

Maple and Jack sat next to each other at the table, the only thing big enough that had a chance of holding the large party. Maple had been alright once they had sat down, and ended up telling Jack some off the wall tale about how a bad guy had tried to get her and after a certain point she even had the adults listening to her. Of course, Panda turned out to be the hero in the story, as she was in real life, and he looked at the dog in awe… and he wasn't the only one. Everyone else tried to act like they didn't believe some of the things she said, but honestly, how could you Not believe someone who looked like they were dead serious. Even Will, who had been there, couldn't help but wonder.

Maple and Jack snuck outside, and soon after the windows rattled and screaming could be heard from the back yard.

Everyone started running.

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hehe. And yes, I am going to one of these days get around to re writing the first few chapters.

So please, Review! UPdates might come faster. ;)


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